Comparing trades

In what is a rarity in the NFL, there have been trades featuring two big-time players in the last two days.

Yesterday, as you may have heard, the Redskins shipped a second-round pick in 2009 and a sixth-round pick in 2010 to Miami for defensive end Jason Taylor. Today, the Giants shipped tight end Jeremy Shockey to New Orleans for second- and fifth-round picks in 2009.

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Who got the best deal: The Redskins, Dolphins, Saints or Giants?

In the short term, the Redskins and Giants. The Redskins get a 34-year old pass rusher (he turns 34 on Sept. 1) who has no injury history, can still beat double teams and fills an absolute need. The second winner are the Giants. They get rid of a problem child before camp starts (Shockey was whining about a multitude of things) and get an additional two picks in this year’s draft. For a team like New York that has drafted so well under GM Jerry Reese, that’s huge.

The Saints probably got the short end of the four teams. I give the Redskins the edge over them because Shockey is coming off a broken leg, he cost them two picks in the same draft and he has a history of being somewhat difficult with coaches and teammates. The Dolphins make out fine because they got exactly what they wanted (plus a sixth-rounder) for a veteran who had no interest in being a part of the rebuilding process.

* One last Redskins-related note: Much is being made (as it should be) about Vinny Cerrato fibbing to the D.C. media, something he revealed in interviews with Sports Illustrated and ESPN Radio last night and this morning. It is the worst possible start for Cerrato as the Redskins’ front office grand poo-bah. Those at the Park regularly always knew Vinny favored the national guys more than the local guys so he could almost point to the TV or magazine and take credit for leaking that story. But it’s time for Vinny and the entire organization to be more up front, tell reporters off the record what’s going on as long as they don’t print it or simply say ‘no comment’ until something’s resolved.